Putti Medical Care Program

As you may know, the health of the people of Putti is very important to us. We are constantly updating you on the condition of some of its members, and even have fundraisers set up for some in need. So that is why the following news is so important! We were just contacted by Galilee Community Hospital they informed us that they will be offering free medical treatments to all Jewish community members in Putti! As the medical coverage is becoming impossible in the region and out of reach for most of the people we need to take care of the members at large, this we have extended it also to the conservative group since their hospital (Tobin is in non functional state)

The medical care will include the following service:

General Medical consultation

Dental care (Both near the shul and at the hospital)

Antenatal (Gynecologist/Obstetrician)

In and out patient service ( 50 bed capacity)

Ultra sound scan

Eye clinic

X-ray services

Theater Operations

Colposcopy Scan

Laboratory services

Dialysis (will be fully operational soon)

Cervical cancer treatment (early stages)

Breast cancer screening (mammography)

All those seeking medical care should have a letter or communication from the recognized community representative.

GCGH to work closely with the Jewish Community leaders to ensure that the service is delivered to those that were intended to receive it.

We continue to welcome ideas of how best to implement this medical care program to successfully achieve its intended objectives of serving the Jewish Community.

This program will be such a relief and comfort for the people of Putti, but also for us. However, this does not mean that all medical needs are met. The Galilee Community Hospital is far removed (about 5 hours away) so the people of Putti will only be able to use this facility in exceptional cases. There will be expenses for traveling and lodging, and in emergency cases the trip will be too far. Nonetheless this is fabulous news and surely a big step towards meeting the medical needs of the Putti community. We want to see Putti not only succeed but to thrive, and having this service available will help reach several goals. Though the medical services are free to the people of Putti, the hospital is approximately 6-7 hours away. The cost to transport people to the hospital is still something to think about and your help is still needed. Please still consider donating to the medical fund to make this free service possible. Thank you for all the prayers and support!

However, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them peace and truth in plenty. -Jeremiah 33:6

Putti Villagedreams of larger scale farming

Periodic draughts and famines are a constant challenge in Africa.
For that reason, the people of Putti Village have a dream to make their food production more efficient. In order to achieve that, they are striving to gradually change from small scale to larger scale farming. The progress they have made in recent years is already helping the community to fight poverty. But more needs to be done, to insure the community’s food supply.

The agricultural activities, as they take place right now, involve both men and women from all ranks of the village. The community typically divides the land in smaller units and applies crop rotation and mixed farming to prevent depletion of the soil. As the community wants their products to be organic, they do not use fertilizers and since their land is so fertile, this has not posed any difficulties as of yet. Even with the growing need for production, the community has still been able to resist the temptation to use fertilizers.

While still ploughing the land using bulls that are rented from their Christian neighbors, members of the Putti community dream of owning a tractor that will not only be used to cultivate their own land, but can also help them make money, as they will be able to rent it out to neighboring farmers.In addition, if each family gets a dairy cow or some poultry for their household income, this will also be a way of fighting poverty in the Putti community.

“Our dream is to evolve from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture, that is to say, farming on a larger plot of land, planting both food crops and cash crops, using more efficient farming technology, and rearing animals for milk and birds for meat to be sold”

Feeding the village

The most commonly planted crops include the following:

Maize

Beans

Soya beans

Rice

Cassava

Sweet potatoes

Watermelon

Banana

Carrots

Onions

Tomatoes

The planting of crops takes place twice a year; in March and in September. The harvesting takes place in July and in December. Since the ability to water the crops is solely dependent on the weather (i.e. rain water), every harvest turns out differently. The exact timing of the harvest depends largely on the type of crops that are planted. Some crops (e.g. maize and beans) take three to four months to mature. Other crops (such as cassava and millet) take more than six months before they can be harvested. After the crops are gathered, the food is first dried and then stored locally in polythene bags, or at times in people’s houses. Again, in efforts to keep the food supply organic and healthy, the villagers of Putti do not use pesticides to protect them.

Running the Project

There is not just one person in charge of the community’s agricultural efforts. Board members and community members alike volunteer to make this project come alive. Our hope is that recent graduates will take the lead as they have experience with computers, internet access, and analytical skills. We are looking forward for this project to evolve more efficiency and to a larger scale.

You can help!

We greatly welcome donations for seeds, fruit trees, and farming equipment for our agricultural projects. If you are able to send us a donation (or even make a monthly commitment, no matter how modest it would be) you will not only be feeding the people of Putti right now, you will be investing into the future of the village’s ability to become self-sufficient.

Click the link below to plant your life giving tree in the agricultural community of Putti Village. Thank you!

A Musical Event

Recently, a fundraising event was held in the Levi Auditorium of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in New York City, with the goal to raise funds for the people of Putti Village. Hosted by the Shearith Israel League, this interesting and festive evening hosted two members of the African Jewish community called Kahal Kadosh She’erit Yisra’el. We heard a few of their special melodies, straight from Putti’s unique liturgical tradition. Also very inspiring was the Jewish musician Rachman Nachman who performed some of his reggae style songs with a Jewish twist. Sjimon den Hollander shared with us all about his involvement with this unusual group of people, his trips to Uganda, his close cooperation with Rabbi Shlomo Riskin and others to teach and elevate this community.

In all, thisamazing night was able to raise a very much needed $1,200 for the people of Putti to help with their educational and medical expenses. A highlight of the evening came when a couple who have been active in the League offered to pay the medical expenses for a young boy in the village who is suffering from sickle cell anemia. For too long Akiva Galandi was not able to get hydroxyurea, a drug used all over the world to alleviate symptoms of people suffering from sickle cell disease. Without it, a young boy such as Akiva finds it hard to play ball or even attend school with his friends. Once he has access to the medicine he can begin the process of partaking in so many childhood activities. Akiva is now on a good path, but many more Putti children need to find donors who will allow them to maximize their educational and health potential.

-Can you be one of those donors? Click the link below to donate towards the medical fund for the people of Putti. There is also an option to make your donation a recurring payment.

What is a Mikvèh?

A Mikvèh*is a collection or gathering of water, and fulfills an essential role in the religious life of the Jewish people.

The Background:

According to Torah law (also called the “Law of Moses”) a person can become ritually ‘impure’. This ‘impurity’ does not suggest sinfulness and is most often not perceived as negative in itself.The most important consequence of such impurity was that being impure would (temporarily) disqualify someone from visiting the Temple in Jerusalem.It is generally assumed that the one of the main functions of such a concept was to instill a higher level of awe and respect to the person while entering the Temple and participating in its service.
There were several different levels of ritual impurity, depending on what had brought the impurity about, and related to these different levels, there were distinct rituals for removing the impurity.In some cases, for minor levels, the impurity would cease automatically at the end of the day.For others, only the washing of the person’s hands was required.In the most severe case, after touching a corpse, a highly complicated ritual was involved that lasted a week, for the impurity to be removed.In many cases however, the appropriate procedure was for a person to totally immerse him or herself in water.

Some Laws of Ritual Purity Perpetuated after the Destruction of the Temple:

After the destruction of the Temple, maintaining these practices had become less relevant.Therefore, in most cases, the rabbis of the Talmud decided to temporarily abolish them, until the time when, one day in the future, the Temple would be rebuilt.However a number of exceptions were made for cases in which the practice would continue.The ritual washing of hands in certain occasions, such as before eating bread is such an example in which purity laws were perpetuated.Other examples directly involve the topic of our article, the Mikvèh (which is a body of water that fulfills a number of prescribed conditions; more about that later).
These examples are:Firstly, the immersion of someone’s entire body at the occasion of his/her conversion to Judaism (which, as a side note, also explains the origin of Christian Baptism).Secondly, the practice to dip newly acquired metal and glass food utensils in such a body of water.And thirdly, the requirement for a menstruant woman to immerse herself after a period of separation from her husband, before she can resume intimate relations.Similarly such an immersion is required at the end of a period following giving birth.

Requirements for a Mikvèh:

Water, like people and many objects can become ritually impure. Under Torah law, however, there are two distinct conditions that can make a body of water immune from becoming impure

In other words, under two possible circumstances will water always be pure.According to rabbinic law, exactly such water is needed if one would immerses oneself for the purpose of purification.Only water which is inherently pure can be used for this specific ritual.
The first scenario involves rain water that has naturally gathered into a basin.However, the flow of the water into the basin must happen without any interruption, and there is a number of rather complicating additional conditions.One of them is that the rain water cannot flow through any metal pipes or through certain vessels.Also, once the rain water is gathered into the basin, it has to be still, i.e. it has to stop flowing.This limits certain bodies of water to be used as a Mikvèh.For instance, a river that is primarily fed by rain water is unfit for ritual immersion.
The second scenario involves water that flows uninterruptedly from an active spring.This involves a different set of prerequisites, which are generally less complicated.Most significantly, the water can be used even if it keeps flowing from the spring well.

The Mikvèh in Putti:

It is this second type of Mikvèh that is used by the community of Putti. The water flows from thespring into the Mikvèh basin and back out again (see below).

(Photography: Menachem Kuchar)

In the second illustration, one can see the actual water spring and the channel leading to the Putti Mikvèh.

The actual Mikvèh is made slightly removed from the spring itself, to create safer conditions for immersion as well as an environment of privacy by means of walled enclosure (as the immersion is typically performed without clothing).

(Photography: Menachem Kuchar)

The third illustration shows Putti’s actual Mikvèh:

Making use of a spring and flowing water offered the significant advantage that it doesn’t offer a breeding ground for mosquitoes.The alternative option for building a Mikvèh, namely with collected still-standing rain water, would instead have created a dangerous source of malaria.
In addition, in the way the Mikvèh was built in Putti, the water flowing out is now used to irrigate the crops on the land that feed the people!

The Minimal Amount of Water in a Mikvèh:

One thing we know is that there should be enough water to cover the entire body of an average person. According to some authorities, as long as a person’s whole body can be covered with water, then the Mikvèh is sufficient for him/her.The majority of the rabbis of the Talmud however held that the quantity of water has to be at least 40 se’ah.The question then immediately comes up: How much is a se’ah?Typically for most things Jewish, that is a matter of debate.It doesn’t really help to know that a se’ah is supposed to be the same size as 144 eggs…How big the average eggs in the time of the Talmud were, is another point of discussion.In short, the opinions on the minimal quantity of water in a “ritual bath” differ from 293.2 liter (77.5 gallons) to a much stricter opinion that quotes a minimal amount of 572 liter (151 gallons).Nowadays, as there is no maximum quantity of water, all Mikva’ot, (including the Putti Mikvèh), are built larger than the biggest quoted minimum, to accommodate all opinions.
The above mentioned immersion of new cooking utensils has a smaller minimum of water, but can be done in the same Mikvèh as well.

Other Types of Mikvèh:

Many of the world’s natural bodies of water, such as seas, oceans, spring-fed lakes, and spring-fed riversare Mikva’ot as well, and can be used for purification purposes.Before the construction of the Putti Mikvèh, the members of the Putti community generally utilized a nearby river, which offered several hazards, such as the presence of parasites, water snakes and other creatures that live in the rivers.

When the Mikvèh is Used:

According to Jewish practice, immersing in a Mikvèh is required on a number of occasions.

1. Most importantly, a Jewish woman is required to immerse after a number of days following her menstruation.During this period she and her husband are not allowed to be together in an intimate way, until she immerses in the Mikvèh or, as we saw before in another valid body of water.Initially, according to Torah law and in most cases, this period of semi-separation lasted seven days in total, starting from the unset of her monthly period.As a result of a development that started in Talmudic times in Babylonia, the custom evolved into a counting of seven days starting from the end of the woman’s menstruation (often resulting in a total of about 12 days on average).This approach has become the general practice of virtually all observant Jewish communities.

2. As the practice of monthly immersion is only observed in the context of marital life, an unmarried woman does not visit the Mikvèh.Therefore, her first visit to the Mikvèh is typically on the night before her wedding.

3. The above described practice is also observed after a woman gives birth.

4. All Jewish converts, both men and women, immerse in a Mikvèh after they have been accepted by a Jewish court (a Beth Din).This immersion constitutes their entering into the Jewish people.

5. In all these occasions, the ritual of immersing oneself in a Mikvèh, is more than just a ritualistic or legalistic practice.Therefore, apart from the above described cases, there are other occasions for using a Mikvèh, which are voluntary and done for purely spiritual purposes.
As an example, some grooms visit the Mikvèh on the day before their wedding.
In addition, many Jewish men (and some women) visit a Mikvèh on the day before Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).Others practice this custom even before other Jewish holidays, some every week before the start of Shabbat and few individuals go early every day before morning prayers.

As was alluded to before, there is a strong spiritual component to this practice.For one thing, a Mikvèh can be seen as representing the waters of creation, or/and a mother’s womb, while immersing and coming out of a Mikvèh symbolizes rebirth and spiritual renewal, or even resurrection.
Therefore, it is not surprising to find that a rather new application of the Mikvèh has emerged in our days, namely as a tool within certain post-trauma therapies.

Historically:

Jews have been building Mikva’ot for thousands of years.In fact the Mikvèh is such an integral and essential part of Jewish practice that a Jewish community is required to make the building of a Mikvèh their highest priority.A community is required to build a Mikvèh, even before investing in a synagogue!

Here are some pictures of Mikva’ot from (a) Antiquity, from (b) the Middle Ages and from (c) Modern Times.

Ancient Mikvèh in Jerusalem

Medieval Mikvèh in France

Modern, heated Mikvèh in the USA

The Final Stage:

Thebuilding of the Mikvèh in Putti was made possible by generous contributions of donors like you and me. As a final stage we now need to plant trees around the Mikvèh, to provide shade and privacy for the people using it.In addition the outgoing Mikvèh water can be used for fruit trees that provide nutrition and vitamins.Efforts are made by the Putti Village Assistance Organization to raise money for this goal.

You can contribute to this lofty cause by donating $20 for a fruit tree, through the following link: http://puttivillage.org/donate. (All donations are tax deductible)

Feeding the village

The people of Putti decided to plant maize and soya this last October, as these contribute to a major part of the African diet. In years gone by, before Putti had land of their own, they just had to hope that somehow food would arrive, it didn’t. Meaning that every year they suffered from famine. Sometimes, so bad that adults would only have enough to enable them to eat one meal a day, on alternate days, children were restricted to small portions of whatever was around, causing severe malnutrition.

Now thankfully, that is something we pray will not happen again. Yes, there is still a shortage of food but with maize and soya crops growing well, no-one should go hungry. The crops will be harvested in February, then stored and distributed to the most needy during lean times.

The next Food Project is on it’s way, the Putti land is fertile but until money is raised to buy more seeds the harvest is relatively small. Please donate just $10 or whatever you can, which will ultimately feed a child during their most needy times.”

Thank you so much for your interest and kindness.

Ros -PVAO

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Once the Maize is Harvested

After harvest, the maize is poured on the clean and dry court yard or compound in hot sunshine for it to dry for 3 to 4 days, depending on the good weather. If poor weather is being experienced, it may take more than 4 days for maize to dry. After drying, it is taken directly to grinding mill machine. It costs 6 cents per kilo (2.2lbs) to grind maize to make flour.

Making Posho with the Maize

5 maga/ cups of water from any water source are measured into a saucepan, the saucepan is then put into the local stones (stove) already on fire, and the water is boiled up to 95 degrees. 1 kg of maize floor is poured into 5 cups of boiled water stir it with megling sticking, in few seconds it will turn into porridge, eventually turning into solid form. when it turns into soild, cook it with less fire for 10 minutes, eventually the food known as Posho will ready. When it is ready, put solid Posho On plate and start serving like a person would serve bread, cutting with knife or plate (it is very soft when hot), and served warm.

1kg of maize flour serves 3.

Recipe For Say

Measure any amount in the cup and fry it in the saucepan directly without any ingredients. Leave it to cool for a few minutes then put in the motor or machine mill, or pound by hand. Mix the milled powder with cold or warm water and cook for 15 to 25 minutes. Mix in some salt, then if desired, you can stir in tomatoes and onions. After 15 to 25 minutes the source is ready to eat, serve using handful spoon on plates.

Hanukkah (Chanukah) means “rededication” and is one of the most important and significant periods in the Jewish calendar. This Festival is often known as the Festival of Lights.

This year, Hanukkah started on the evening of Sunday December 6th. During this Festival, it is traditional to give gifts to one another. Putti Village Assistance Org. (PVAO) thought, what better way to start the Festival, than to give each family living in the Putti Jewish Community, a life saving mosquito net. These nets will undoubtedly help the Community to combat the unseasonable current malaria outbreak which is affecting every family in Putti. Children and the elderly in particular, are at most risk. We need to buy many more nets so we can ensure everyone is given one. No-one needs to die, nor fall seriously ill – mosquito nets will hopefully ensure that does not happen. For every $10 donated, we can buy a specially coated net for maximum protection. Our goal is to raise $750 by the end of the year.

Please help us by donating to this cause. Click the donate button to make a donation with paypal.

As the U. S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports a high risk of contacting malaria in Uganda, it is not surprising that Putti Village recently experienced a rampant increase of malaria cases. Accordingly, PVAO has set malaria prevention and case management as a high priority.

The World Health Organization considers mosquito nets coated with Permethrin–one of the world’s safest insect control products–to be the gold standard for malaria control. Mosquito nets are prone to develop small holes. Untreated nets thus become useless in a few months and must be replaced. Treated nets remain effective for several years.

Accompanying pictures in this article show Putti villagers receiving their first distribution of lifesaving treated nets funded by PVAO. The need is great for additional nets to protect all families in the village. Can you help?

Please consider donating to the PVAO’s Medical Fund. Money goes to buy treated nets which prevent the spread of malaria and to buy medicines for those village members who have malaria and have received prescriptions from the local clinic.

As we light the Menorah this Chanukah holiday, let’s consider a gift to lighten the load malaria has brought to so many village families. Your gift for treated nets helps to save lives.

Please help us by donating to this cause. Click the donate button to make a donation with paypal.